Did you see that? (11/12-11/18)
November 19, 2012
The final MHSAA girls tournaments of the fall, Volleyball and Lower Peninsula Swimming and Diving, came to an end Saturday. Three of seven champions were crowned for the first time, and Second Half had coverage of them all.
Volleyball
Two new, two returning: Macomb Dakota in Class A and Lake Odessa Lakewood in Class B finished Saturday with their first MHSAA championships. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central won its second title in three seasons, and Battle Creek St. Philip won its eighth straight in Class D. (Class A) (Class B) (Class C) (Class D)
Swimming and Diving
Champions' wake: The Lower Peninsula Division 2 and 3 Finals saw repeat champions in Holland and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, respectively. But Holland West Ottawa won its first team title in any girls sport at the Division 1 Final. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3)
Girls Golf
Aya on Fiya: The Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association named Muskegon Catholic Central senior Aya Johnson this season's Miss Golf. Johnson, who will play next season at the University of Wisconsin, defeated Lansing Catholic's Jacqueline Setas in a tie-breaker to claim the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship at Michigan State's Forest Akers West. (Muskegon Chronicle)
Flashback 100: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons
September 6, 2024
Ann Arbor Pioneer's girls swimming & diving team is celebrating its 2002 Lower Peninsula Division 1 title in the photo above, and the Pioneers remain the record holders for longest Finals championship streak in that sport with nine consecutive from 2000-08.
Pioneer has won a total of 20 Finals team titles in girls swimming & diving, 16 under the direction of longtime coach Dennis Hill and the last four under the leadership of current coach Stefanie Kerska. The Pioneers also have finished Finals runners-up 11 seasons.
Future Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce swam on the 2001 and 2002 Pioneer teams, setting all-Finals records as a senior in the 50-yard freestyle (22.04), 100 freestyle (48.59), 200 freestyle (1:46.34), and as part of the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.77). She still holds those all-Finals records in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events, and at one point she owned the national high school records for both races as well.
Joyce went on to swim at Georgia, winning 18 NCAA championships and setting two national records, and she competed at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympics for Team USA, winning a total of four medals.
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